Wheel hubs of a vehicle which are rotatably bearing mounted to a wheel spindle are typically secured by a spindle nut. The nut not only secures the assembly but establishes a pre-load on the bearings. The nut must be secured in a fixed rotative position to maintain the pre-load desired on the bearings and for safety reasons. Should the nut loosen or in the rare instance become tightened further premature bearing failure is likely to occur. Should the nut loosen dramatically, there is the possibility of the wheel coming off the vehicle.
Locking devices are utilized to secure the nut in a fixed rotative position. Typically a locking device engages a keyway (slot) formed in the threaded portion of the spindle so that the locking device is non rotatable relative to the spindle. One such device is a washer that is positioned between the bearings and the nut. After the nut is tightened to establish a desired pre-load on the bearings, the washer is deformed to engage a flat on the nut. This type of lock requires deformation of the washer to establish a lock and when it is desired to disassemble the hub from the spindle, the washer must be deformed again to permit the removal of the nut. The operation of bending the washer is an added operation and often, the washer is not properly deformed to establish a positive engagement with the nut.
Another device has a ring that is attachable to the nut after the nut has been installed. The ring has a protrusion that engages the keyway of the spindle so that it is non-rotatable relative to the spindle. The ring is attached to the nut by multiple fasteners such as screws. The nut must therefore, in almost all installations, be rotatably adjusted so that the fasteners may be inserted through the ring, threadably installed in the nut and tightened. The adjusting of the nut and the manual insertion and tightening of the fasteners requires additional undesired manual operations.